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6
CHARLES M. SHORTRIrtfIE,
Editor and Proprietor.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
DAILY CALL— *6 per year by mail; by carrier, 15c
per week. • ■
SUNDAY CALL— II.SO per Tear.
WEEKLY CALL— «I.SO per year.
Tho Kastern office of the SAX FRANCISCO
CALL. (Daily and Weekly); Pacific States Adver
tising Bureau, KhineUnder building, Hose and
Duane streets, New York.
TIIIKSDAY. .'. I APRIL 4. 1895
The people will win.
The monopoly is desperate. ' •
Bulldozing cannot stop competition.
The Grand Jury has lots of game ahead.
Lawless methods are doomed to failure.
Sign the Call pledge and never mind
the six-shooter.
The lawful revolution is too big for the
lawless revolver. :
The monopoly bulldozers had better
shoot their guns.
Stockton leads trumps and San Jose will
have to follow suit.
Santa Rosa, is trying to make herself
wholly roses for a time.
Hanford talks business as if she meant
it and intends to nave it.
Progress has too much headway on it to
be stopped by footpad methods.
Honest workmen on the streets must be
protected from corporation bullies.
If bulldozing with pistols is not punished,
it will soon be a game more than one will
play at.
Get the Weekly Call that appears this
morning and post yourself on Pacific Coast
industries.
Men who invest in lottery tickets hardly
ever have money enough to pay their
grocery bills.
Public indignation against lawless vio
lence can be expressed neither too often
nor too firmly.
Notwithstanding the report that Gresham
will stick, the country will continue to be
lieve he is stuck.
It appears that none but Democrats met
defeat in the Eastern elections ; the Popu
lists were not in it.
The gbldbugs say the rise in silver ia
only a speculation, but the people will
consider it good, business.
The foolish man buys a lottery ticket,
but the man with business sense takes
stock in the competing road.-
Reformers who have done so much talk
ing should not lose the present oppor
tunity to show themselves in action.
What is the moral difference between
holding up a train with a rifle and stop
ping work on a railroad with a pistol?
If you have not yet subscribed to the
stock of the San Joaquin road do so to-day,
and help to make a big record for the
week.
Perhaps the Southern Pacific will send
Superintendent Harris to Stockton to stop
the San Joaquin road with his big re
vblvef. ;
The spring elections in the East show
that the Republican-success last fall was an
upheaval of solid ground and not a mere
tidal wave. . •
Even the monopoly shows signs of join
ing, the popular . procession, for it has
agreed to reduce freight rates on refriger
ated fruits. '• .
Never was there a better time for reform
movements than right now, and never a
better subject for investigation than the
street-paving job. ■ ■
Whatever may be the legal phrase for the
bituminous rock job in. the Board of Sup
ervisors, in the literal meaning of the
words it was highway robbery.
It is evident the octopus can work one
of its tentacles like a sneak tnief and an
other like a footpad, while the rest are
reaching out for all the law in sight.
The attempt of the monopoly to block
Banta Clara Valley against a competing
road will be as futile as the attempt to
block all the streets of San Francisco. '
If it had been a poor man who threat
ened Superintendent Harris with a re
volver, there would have been an awful
difference in the court in the morning.
The business office of the Call will be
found this morning and hereafter at. 710
Market street, opposite the junction with
Third street. Call there and leave orders.
When the fiestas blossom out in the
couth San Francisco will have many" a rep
resentative to dance among the roses and
talk to the southern beauties- of the delight
of living in a- united State.
Suppose one of the strike leaders had
endeavored to stop workmen on the
Southern Pacific road by threatening
them with a revolver, would the courts
have let him go on a |40 bail ? ' ■
The people have four brainy, brave and
incorruptible representatives on the Board
of Supervisors, and if the Mayor stands
firmly with them the rascals on the board
will be powerless to plunder the City.
Several Eastern cities ha7e followed the
example of Boston in substituting paper in
.place of slates in the public schools, and
the time is evidently' coming when the
phrase, "Put it on the slate," will be lost to
the world.
Bear in mind that the best way to adver
tise California and the Pacific Coast among
the right class of' people is to send the
Weekly Call to your Eastern friends.
They are the right people and the Call is
the best way of reaching them.
The return of W. H. Cornwell to Hono
lulu with the. intention of claiming pro
tection as an American citizen while at
tending to his business there, will once
more make the islands a storm center of
diplomacy and may possibly give Gresham
a chance to let the eagle scream.
The report that Japan will require China
to pay $250,000,000 in gold to her credit in
Europe, and then use it thereto buy silver,
doesn't redound much to the credit of the
Japanese financiers. It would have been
better for them to have required China to
pay the indemnity in the United States,
where silver is cheaper, and where Japan
tan best look for military and naval sup-
BEPUBLIOAN PAITH.
The splendid victories won by the Repub
licans of the Eastern cities in the elections
on Tuesday, are full of encouragement to
the party. They give assurance that the
great Republican triumph of last fall was
an upheaval of solid ground, and not a
mere tidal wave that might ebb away
as quickly as it came. That triumph it is
now evident meant a permanent uprising
of the people, and will form an enduring
landmark in our political history for the
rest of this generation.
If we look beneath the glow of this
splendid victory, to distinguish tbe causes,
they will be found centered in the great
fact that the Republican party keeps its
pledges to the people. There may be here
and there some Republican official who
fails in this respect, breaks his promises to
the people and betrays the trust the party
reposed in him. Such recreant officials,
however, do not remain in office very lortg.
The Republican organization has an effec
tive way of dealing with' the men who be
tray it, and their career in the public
service ends short and sharp.
We commend the moral of this truth
to the Republican members of the Board
of Supervisors. They were elected as
representatives of a party which keeps its
pledges, and as such they will be judged.
During the campaign the Chronicle, as a
stalwart champion of the Republican
party, with other papers, made the un
answerable argument in favor of the Re
publican candidates that, as representa
tives of a great party and responsible to its
organization, they would be more likely to
keep their pledges and give the City a good
government, than Independents and Non-
Partisans, who, having no organization
bacfc of them, would be responsible to
nobody. This argument undoubtedly had
weight with all intelligent men, and it was
largely on that ground the votes were cast
that elected a Republican majority to the
Board of Supervisors.
From that majority the party has a right
to expect a good government and the
party organization should see that it is
guaranteed. If any Republican official
shows signs of violating his pledges, the
leaders of the party should endeavor by
every means to bring him to a recognition
of his duty to the party and to the people.
In this work the County Central Com
mittee, the Union League Club and every
other Republican organization should
take part. They should argue, reason, ex
hort, advise, counsel, appeal and plead
with the official representatives of the
party to stand firm to their duty, and if in
spite of all this any official persists in be
traying hia trust then severe measures
should be taken. The pledge-breaker
should be read out of the party and held
up to the indignation of the people. The
Call certainly will not recognize such an
official as a Republican nor seek to defend
his iniquities. The Republican party i?
honored because it has kept faith with the
people, and in denouncing pledge-breakers
the Call will be serving the best interests
of the party as well as those of the City
and the State.
MOVING Iff ALAEM.
The most prominent evidence of alarm
which the Southern Pacific feels on account
of the San Francisco and San Joaquin Val
ley Railroad was manifested Tuesday when
Mr. Huntington's company filed suits in
San Mateo County to force a right of way
through small holdings in that county for
its cut-off line from Fourth and Townsend
streets to San Bruno. For many years the
company has owned — or at least claimed — a
right of way through South San Francisco
as far as the San Mateo County line, and it
has now begun suits to force a right of way
to a junction with the old line at San
Bruno. This will avoid the heavy grade
and long detour by way of Ocean View.
Although the company has held this
right of way through South San Francisco
for many years, it is only now moving to
put it to use. And yet this is the very
worst time, with reference to the financial
condition of the company, that this expen
sive piece of work could have been under
taken. If it does not show conclusively
that the Southern Pacific Company has
become alarmed over the magnitude of the
revolution which is crystallized in the Val
ley road, we are unable to judge the value
of evidence.
Its desperate action further indicates its
belief that a line of the Valley road will be
run by way of San Jose, for evidently
this is a move intended to shut out or
greatly hamper that road from reaching its
terminus at China Basin. Of course, the
new road can reach that terminus, for the
shore contour would make an excellent
route, and there are still others; but the
Southern Pacific evidently deems it prudent
to monopolize as much of the ground as
possible.
Thus at last have the 'giants actually
crossed swords, and the splendid duel has
begun. The small affair of the Southern
Pacific's attempt to secure contracts from
farmers contiguous to its line in Kern
County was merely an insignificant skir
mish in comparison with this. The right
is now on in earnest, and the spectacle will
be a brilliant one. On one side will be the
old monopoly — shrewd, wary, full of wis
dom, resourceful in expedients, rich in ex
perience, full of daring and pluck, and
utterly regardless of any rights; on the
other is a valiant band of earnest men, un
skilled in the use of the railroad rapier,
but full of manliness, hope and a sense of
right, and backed by the tremendous moral
force of a unanimous popular sympathy.
If this last alone do not put the strength
of a giant and the skill of a fencing-master
into the arm of the younger combatant,
there is no such thing under the sun as
the prevalence of right.
It is well that the issue has come. The
old fencer has merely made his first lunge
to test the metal of his opponent's sword.
Soon we may expect thrusts of other and
various kinds, besides ingenious feints. In
a duel of this kind ingenuity is as potent
as strength and courage. The one im
portant feature of the case is that the
Southern Pacific has placed itself on the
offensive and sent out a bold challenge to
the popular sentiment out of which the
Valley xoad has grown. In crossing swords
with the Valley road it has arrayed itself
against the wishes and necessities of the
people. Its assault is a call to arms of all
who long to see its power broken. No good
citizen can longer hesitate. To come
promptly to the aid of the courageous
souls who are supporting the enterprise
has been made by this action of the Soutn
ern Pacific the plainest duty that confront.",
the people of California.
ATTENTION, GRAND JTJEY.
Important work awaits the Grand Jury.
The last few days have brought to partial
light quite a number of offenses and lead to
grave suspicions that still greater offenses
would be disclosed if more light were
thrown in the right place. It is to the
Grand Jury the people look for that light
and there will be profound dissatisfaction
if no efforts are made by the jurymen to
supply it.
It is particularly important that an in
vestigation be made into the causes of the
peculiar vote on the street-paving ordi
nance. There must be some reason why
THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 1895.
eight members of the Board of Supervisors
voted for an ordinance which practically
vests the privilege of supplying the City
with asphalt in the hands of a monopoly.
Such valuable privileges are not given for
nothing. There is evidently a ring back of
the job and something very like official
corruption in the method by which it was
carried out. The people would like to see
the Grand Jury seek out the hidden mem
bers of that ring, expose the corruption
and bring the guilty parties to justice.
The matter is the more important be
cause the Grand Jury system itself is on
trial. It is high time for the people to
know just how far they can rely on that
system for hunting out crime and prose
cuting offenders. If the Grand Jury can
do anything in that direction, it ought to
be done; if it cannot do anything, the fact
ought to be known, so that a better system
may be devised. The present jury has a
splendid opportunity to show whatever
usefulness the system may have, and, as
we have said, the people are now eager to
see it get in some effective work.
TUBU THE EASCALS OUT.
We are pleased to note that our great
Democratic contemporary, the Examiner,
is working with zeal and energy alongside
the Call and with the people in the effort
to hasten the coming of the era of better
thing? for San Francisco and California.
This was particularly noticeable yesterday,
when, in addition to the steadfast advo
cacy of the San Joaquin road, the Examiner
as well as the Call denounced the offense
of Superintendent Harris in threatening
peaceable workingmen with a pistol, and
also the job involved in the street-paving
ordinance for which eight members of
the Board of Supervisors voted.
With all the Examiner said concerning
the "rampant revolver' 1 we agree. It wa3
indeed but another form of expressing
what the Call said. We also agree with
its terse exposition of the iniquity
of the "paving order," but we cannot
agree with some of the conclusions it
draws from the evidence of jobbery and
trickery in the City government.
The Examiner holds that because of the
jobbery among some of the Supervisors we
cannot undertake at this time any exten
sive City improvements, and says: "The
people of San Francisco are ready to spend
money liberally for improvements, but
they have some decided objections to turn
ing it over to the kind of ring tdat is sug
gested by the combination of eight in the
Supervisors and the contractors' ring that
stands behind it. When there is assur
ance that the money will go into pave
ments and not into the pockets of a com
bine, there will be no tro ible in getting all
the money that is wanted. It is evident
that we must wait for the new charter
before we can have any relief. Then we
shall see what can be done."
While there is much of truth in that
statement, it covers a grave error. Sup
pose the new charter should be defeated?
Suppose, if adopted, some dishonest men
should get into office under it? What
then? Are public improvements to be
postponed to the millennium? Can eight
rascals block the progress of a great city?
Is there no way for honest men to enforce
their will? Can fraud go forever un
whipped of justice undei our present
charter? Where is the Grand Jury, the
District Attorney, the Civic Federation,
the Reform League and all the forces of
municipal purity? The machinery of the
law is on the side of the people. They
have elected men upon whom they can
call to execute their duties. We see no
reason for awaiting a new charter which
may never come. The time to act is right
now. Arouse the people, awaken the
Grand Jury to a performance of its duty,
probe the scandalous jobbery to the bot
tom, indict the dishonest, turn the rascals
out and let progress and improvement go
ahead.
PULL ALL TOGETHER.
The launching of a stern-wheel steamer
by San Franciscans, to ply between San
Francisco and Alviso, and their expressed
intention to construct from Alviso to San
Jose an electric road over which to haul
tbe products of Santa Clara County to
Alviso, and ship them thence by steamer
to San Francisco, is just what San Jose her
self should have done years ago, and it is
not to her credit that this splendid oppor
tunity was never seized. Seven or eight
years ago some of her enterprising citizens
made heroic efforts to arouse into activity
the abundant capital available for this
purpose, but indifference throttled the ef
fort.
We should be glad to see Santa Clara
County in the enjoyment of a dozen roads
for sending its products to market. It has
always been completely at the mercy of
one transportation company, and it has
suffered hurtful retardation in consequence.
It seems incredible that with only eight
miles of railroad to construct in order to
bring its products to tidewater, this mag
nificent county has been content to slum-
ber so long. It is true that the county has
progressed wonderfully, but this has been
rather the result of splendid natural re
sources forcing themselves into develop
ment than of an enterprising effort to
shake off the burden of a transportation
monopoly. If this had been done long ago
the imagination can picture the vastly
greater development that would have
ensued.
Of course the building of this steamer for
the Alviso trade was begun long before the
San Joaquia Valley road was made a clear
probability. Now that it has been done we
hope that it will bring to its owners a gen
erous profit, and to Santa Clara County in
creased prosperity. The project was under
taken, however, at a time when there wag
a monopoly of transportation, no prospect
of competition and high charges for the
service. As it is more than likely that San
Jose will secure a line of the Valley road,
competition and a heavy reduction of trans
portation charges are inevitable, and the
profits of shipping will be of course reduced,
for the profits of the Valley road will come
in part from other sources.
For these and other reasons we suggest
that the promoters of the new line to Al
viso could probably better themselves by
uniting their forces with the Valley road
instead of entering into competition with
it. The one great thing now before all the
people is the establishment of the new
railroad. Every effort and thought should
be concentrated on that one undertaking.
It will be time enough after this is done to
think of other needful things. It is only
by a concentration of their efforts on this
one proposition that the residents of the
Santa Clara Valley can hope to find relief
from burdens which afflict them. All iheir
energy is needed for this. When that is
done let them, as they should, run electric
roads all over the county for the purpose of
bringing in the products for shipment over
the people's road. Let them, if they will,
build an electric road of their own to deep
water at Alviso and there connect with
steamers to San Francisco. There will be
time for all these minor things when the
greatest and most important of all has
been accomplished.
The earnestness and vigor with which
the people of San Jose are pushing the
Valley road enterprise show that they un
derstand these matters thoroughly, and
that they realize that it is only by eternal
vigilance and intelligent concentration that
they can accomplish the great task which
they have undertaken.
THE EISE IK SILVEE.
Although some of the financial authori
ties in New York assert the recent rise in
silver is merely speculative, there are good
and substantial reasons for believing it to
be permanent. There may be nothing of
real value in the talk of a return to bimetal
lism by international agreement, but the
very fact that such talk is heard from lead
ing men in all the great nations is a proof
of the existence of a condition of affairs
highly favorable to an increased use of
silver as money, even if a comprehensive
system of bimetallism is not carried out.
The increased output of gold in the last
two years, together with the diminished
output of silver, has done much to restore
that ratio of value between the two metais
which may be fairly described as normal;
and perhaps if there were no further legis
lation at all on the subject, the mere opera
tion of economic law would in the end
bring about the re-establishment of the 16
to 1 basis. In addition to this, however,
must be noted the probable effects of the
Oriental war. It is fairly certain that China
will soon have to become a large purchaser
of silver. Even if she is required to pay an
indemnity to Japan in gold, she will have
to buy silver for her own use ; and it is very
probable that Japan also will use a large
part of the gold indemnity to buy silver.
This opens a prospect of a large consump
tion of silver in those countries before
long, with a consequent advance of the
price all over the world.
Both gold and silver are so much under
the control of banks and bankers it would
not be difficult for a strong syndicate to
cause a fluctuation in either metal for a
time if they saw a profit in doing it. We
do not mean, therefore, that the advance
in silver is likely to be steady and constant
from this time on; but we believe the ten
dency to advance will be marked, despite
temporary fluctuations. The world has
evidently turned the corner of the great
crisis, and we are likely to have better
times ahead for silver-miners as well as for
manufacturers, farmers and merchants.
SPIRIT Ok THE PRESS.
The Call says that whenever one sees a
Silurian he should shy a cobblestone at him,
but you cannot hurt the feelings of the
"critter" that way. It would be like attacking
a duck with a bucket of water. The Silurian
loves the cobblestone, and. surrounded by
hoarded wealth and congenial squalor, would
lie down to peaceful dreams in a shower of
them.— Fresno Republican.
The Watchman holds that the perfecting of a
deep-water harbor and the completion of a
transcontinental railroad to this point are the
two vital objects to which the people of Eureka
and Humboldt should address themselves.
The harbor is necessary to attract the railroad
connection, though there are many other
strong inducements.— Eureka Watchman .
A stronp effort is to be made to secure enough
stock subscriptions to build the San Francisro
and San Joaquin Railroad without blanketing
the project with bonds. This will necessitate
but one prorit. With the exception of Jim
Hill's Great Northern, none of the Western
roads are free from the necessity of earning
two profits.— Marysville Appeal.
It is proposed to build a magnificent macad
amized boulevard between San Francisco and
San Jose. The driveway will be fifty miles
long, and If the project can be carried through,
it would be one of the most striking and pro
gressing improvements for many a day.— Blue
Lake Advocate.
There is a movement on foot in all great cen
ters looking toward putting the unemployed
back on the land and learning them to pro
duce their own food. This is cheaper In the
long£ run than maintaining souphouses. —
Lemoore Leader.
The Governor has vetoed the district fair bill.
He ought to have cut off the appropriation for
the State Fair, too, while he was about it.—
N'apa Journal.
The nearer the farm and factory are to each
other the better it is for both. — Lemoore
Leader.
PERSONAL,.
P. A. Buell of Stockton is at the Grand Hotel.
Aaron Dowd of Mer.lo Park is at the Lick
House.
George R. Sperry and G. Gumpertz, of Stock
ton, are at the California.
Mrs. G. M. Bridgeman of Bt. Paul, Minn., is
a guest at the Occidental.
District Attorney C. E. Lindsey of Santa Cruz
is a guest at the Grand Hotel.
11. McMurchy of Syracuse, N. V., a crack rifle
shot, is a guest at the Grand Hotel.
L. B. Ulrey, a prominent merchant of King
City, is registered at the Lick House.
Wheeler H. Peckham, a prominent attorney
of New York and president of the New York Bar
Association, is at the Palace.
ON THE WACHUSETT.
Three Men Washed Overboard and Back
Ajain— The Good Tale of a
Good Ship.
The good American ship Wachusett,
Captain Williams, arrived in port yester
day morning, twenty-two days from Nanai
mo, with 2108 tons of coal for John Rosen
feld's Bons. According to Captain "Wil
liams the vessel had a rough time of it.
On March 19, 20 and 21, in latitude 40 deg.
north and longitude 125 deg. 30 mm. west,
the ship was assailed by severe gales, and
four men were washed overboard and back
again. This highly athletic feat was per
formed on the cross seas.
The waves rolled high and swooped dowh
on the decks, washing away the cutwater
in their anger. The vessel took a header
and disappeared in the smother. The
receding waves carried four men out to sea,
but a good wave came along and carried
them back again. The fourth man was no
fool and did not propose to take chances
on the waves, so before he went to sea he
clutched the foresheet and hung on till he
was hauled aboard. How long he held on
is not set down in the log, but he was over
board longer than his companions. The
decks were full nearly all the time the
storm was raging, and, altogether, the
vessel had a remarkable experience. On
her nez+ trip the Wachusett will carry a
bowl for erratic men to go to sea in.
HELD FOR MUBDEK.
Result of the Preliminary Examination
of Charles S. Rice.
The preliminary examination of Charles
8. Rice, the variety actor, charged with the
murder of Cora Everett in their, room at
436}<£ Broadway on the morning of March
17, was held before Judge Low yesterday.
Ferdinand Zeigelmayer, saloon-keeper,
testified that about 4 o'clock that morning
he met Rice and Rice asked him where he
could find an officer as he had killed his
wife. Witness went to Rice's room, and
when he saw the blood he ran outside and
blew his police whistle.
Policemen Freel and Conway testified
that Rice told them he had killed his wife.
When asked why he killed her he replied,
"I did it, and that settles it." Later he
said it was all owing to that man Perkins
who runs a variety show. They found
a razor in a bureau drawer covered with
blood.
Dr. Barrett testified as to the result of his
autopsy and the Judge held Rice to answer
before the Superior Court on the charge of
murder.
Pakoi, in China, exports over 100,000
dried lizards, valued at £500, yearly. They
are used for making "lizard wine," a
medicine for eye troubles.
MUSIC AND
MUSICIANS
Paris has been bereft of its musical critics for
a few days, all of them having gone to Nice to
be present at "Eugene Oneguine," ■which has
just been presented for the first time in French
at the Theater of Nice. It is one of the most
popular scores ever penned by Tschaikowsky,
the famous Russian composer, who died pre
maturely in '93. "Oneguine," which is al
ready in the repertory of all the Russian opera
houses, was the favorite opera of the late
Alexander 111, who often caused it to be pre
senied for his personal pleasure at his resi
dence of Gatschina. In spite of the designa
tion which Tschaikowsky gave it the work is
not a lyric drama in the sense generally under
stood by that term in modern works, where the
music follows and illustrates the action with
out care for any particular vocal form. "One
guine" contains arias, cavatinas, duets and
quartets, and consequently resurrects
the old-lashioned form of opera. From
the small number of characters and the
simplicity of the action the drama is plainly a
domestic one. When Massenet made Charlotte
cut slices of bread and butter in his "Wer
ther," he astonished the frequenters of the
opera-comique, but Tschaikowsky was in ad
vance of him, for in "Oneguine" the nurse is
discovered putting up berries, though they are
not eaten on the stage, like Charlotte's bread
and butter. Mme. Larina only just tasted her
preserves, and did not take the trouble
to tell the audience whether they were sweet
enough. But "Oneguine" has other qualities,
more serious. Indeed, it contains some beauti
ful pages of scenic and dramatic music. The
popular song of the Russian peasant, the ball,
the duel and the beautiful duet of the finale
were particularly well received by the cosmo
politan audience present at the first French
performance of Tschaikowsky's favorite opera.
Mascagni's lyric drama, "Ratcliff," is still
drawing full houses at La Scala, Milan, and
the reports of the foreign newspapers show that
their correspondents have considered it as
great a success as was announced by the
Milanese journals in the first flush of en
thusiasm. La Scena explains this triumph,
after repeated failures, in a fashion that may
have a good deal of truth in it. When Mas
cagni first worked at "Ratcliff" and "La Caval
leria Rusticana" he was poor, obscure and free
to follow the bent of his own genius, Some
friends persuaded him to send the .latter work
in for a musical competition opened by the
Editor Sonzogno. It was accepted and pro
duced—and the next day Rome talked of It.
Sonzogno, quick to see the business advantage
of his young protege's success, had Mascagni
advertised in every possible way, and within a
year the world talked of "La Cavalleria," and
Mascagni was quoted, copied and feted wher
ever he went. "One thing remained," said the
young musician's admiring compatriots, "he
must write his masterpiece," and, urged on by
this commission, Mascagni wrote "L'Amifo
Fritz" and failed. "I Rantzau" met the same
fate, and then, disgusted with writing a
mastarpiece to order, Mascagni went Lack to
"Ratcliff," the inspiration conceived in the
days of poverty and obscurity.
They have been hesitating in France over
whether or not it was necessary to send music
with the regiments setting out to right in
Madagascar and have compromised matters by
sending brass bands to see the Gallic Tommy
Atkins oft at the railway stations. A corre
spondent writing about this gays: "When
Charles Monselet, a witty writer, little known
to the present generation, was challenged to a
duel with an adversary whom he did not
hate— a thing that happens sixty times out of a
hundred— he declared that he was willing to
fight on one condition. 'What condition?'
asked the seconds. 'That there may be wild
music to excite the savage instincts of the
combatants,' answered Monselet. Every one
laughed, but Monselet gave a lesson in those
words to duelists which was more eloquent
than Dumas' recent discourse on the same
subject. The moment one has recourse to
something barbarous, like war or dueling,
some instrument is necessary to arouse the
savage instincts of humanity. Music in such
a case is as much a part ot the fete as the
wedding march is at a marriage." «
Ravel Gunsbourg, the impresario in ordinary
to the Prince of Monte Carlo, when recently
asked by a composer to produce a work played
with success on another stage replied scorn
fully, "I do not conduct what others conduct;
I create." The last work that this indefatig
able conductor at the world's biggest gambling
house has created is "La Jacquerie," a posthu
mous opera by Edouard Lalo, and the
production has proved it to be an opera of
modern and elevated tendencies and of sin
cere inspiration. In the first act, which is
palpably the work of the composer of "The
King of Ys," the barytone song was particu
larly applauded. The delightful recitative of
meeting, sung by Robert, the tenor, and the
scene of the Angelus, were also admired. The
performance of "La Jacquerie" at Monte Carlo
left very little to be desired, and the success of
the opera is said to have been so great that it
will probably be heard in other countries be
fore long. Arthur Coquard was much ap
plauded for the clever way in which he had
completed Lalo's unfinished work, an inter
mezzo of his composition being one of the
gems of the opera.
Sir Arthur Sullivan recently told an inter
viewer this story of a visit to San Francisco: "I
had arrived one morning and was strolling
about the hotel waiting in a rather undecided
way for something to turn up. Quite by acci
dent I met a lady whom I had known in Lon
don, and ns she was about to step into her car
riage to take a drive, she invited me to accom
pany her to the promenade, where an excellent
band was to be heard every day. I accepted
her invitation and we had a delightful drive,
finally drawing up near the bandstand. Imag
ine my surpriße — nay, I must add, my deep
emotion— when the bandmaster, as if by en
chantment, struck up ' The Lost Chord,' which
was played admirably from beginning to end.
It was pure accident, of course, for my visit to
California was not known to any one at the
time, but I need not gay how much I was
touched to hear those strains, which carried
me back so many thousands of miles to home."
Bizet's newly discovered opera, "Don Pro
copio," will probably soon be heard in Paris,
and every one is eagerly looking forward to
hearing a work from the pen of toe gif ted com
poser of "Carmen" that has never yet been
given to the public. The plot of "Don Pro
copio" is a variation of Donizetti's "Don Pas
quale," the history of an old man who wants to
marry a young girl, and is tricked and laughed
at by a pair of clever lovers who outwit him.
The first opera written on the plot of "Don Pro
copio" was a very brignt musical farce, com
posed by Fioraventi, which amused a whole
generation of dilettanti. What poet made the
libretto which Bizet and Fioraventi utilized
is unknown.
Sir A. C. Mackenzie speaks of the conductor's
stick as "the most difficult instrument to play
in the orchestra." The fact is that year by year
the conductor is learning more to play that
stick, as if he were a virtuoso playing upon an
instrument. As a magazine writer recently ob
served: "If the orchestra, the soul-inspiring
tenors, the warbling sopranos, and the mighty
baßso-profundos do not look at it, they will
soon all find their laurels encircling the con
ductor's Olympian brow."
The Chicago papers remark that one of the
most remarkable features of the Abbey,
Scboeffel and Grau season of opera is the ad
mirable acting of the mea and the absence of
histrionic talent on the part of the women.
The De Reszkes, Maurel and Tamagno as sing
ing actors could scarcely be improved upon,
while Melba, Eames, Nordica and Scalchi, the
two former especially, are lacking in the attri
butes of great actresses.
An Eastern correspondent, who was recently
admitted to a rehearsal of "Die Melstersinger,"
by the Abbey, Scnoeffel and Grau company,
says: "I wish some of the amateurs could have
been present, those amateurs who know by in
tuition how a thing should be done, who be
lieve in 'dashing 1 it off on the spur of the
moment, and who hold that excitement at the
time of performance will take the place of pre
vious rehearsals. These professionals slighted
nothing at the rehearsal, no matter how many
times it was necessary to repeat it, and
especially was this the case with the two De
Reszkes."
Rev. Charles Miel of .Sausalito has written a
mass in G major which is spoken of in high
terms by the musicians who have been privi
leged to see it. The new worn will be produced
at the Episcopal church of Sausalito on Easter
Sunday, when the Saturday popular Quartet
will assist in the performance.
The statement printed in the French news
papers that the eminent prima donna, Mme.
Christine Nilsson, proposes to resume her pro
fession seems to require confirmation. It is
now ten years since she practically retired from
the theater.
The Imperial Opera-house at Vienna has had
to close for a time because of la grippe. Van
Dyck and all the other solo tenors of the troupe
were ill simultaneously with the epidemic and
unable to leave their homes.
A new cantata by Siegfried Wagner, based on
a poem by Schiller, will soon be produced in
London.
WATER RATES DISCUSSED.
Mayor Sutro Will Not Allow
Lake Merced Water to.
Be Used.
The Water Committee to Prepare a
Rate Schedule to be Sub
mitted.
The Board of Supervisors met yesterday
in committee of the whole to consider tke
water question in its various phases.
Supervisor Morgenstern, chairman of the
Water Committee, was called to the chair
and immediately Mayor Sutro rose to
again direct the attention of the members
to the unfit condition of the water of. Lake
Merced for the consumption of the people
of the city. He said he had already, laid
the matter before the board and several
of its members had accompanied him and
seen the place for themselves, but he felt it
to be his duty to press it upon their atten
tion, as nothing could be more important
than to guard the health of the people.
This pond, he said, was impure and should
not be tolerated as the water supply of a
great city in a civilized land. It has been
said that the water purifies itself before it
gets into the lake, but he did not think this
was true.
Several examinations had been made
and it was said that no harmful bacteria
had been fonnd there. It was not expect
ed, he said, that the lake would be found
impregnated with bacteria of typhoid
fever. If it was so the whole city would
have been poisoned long ago. Nor should
a wise man wait until he had been poisoned
when he bad knowledge of the danger.
What he wanted, he said, and what should
be done was that the board should exclude
this Merced Lake property from the per
missible sources of supply for water to be
used in this city.
"They say they are not pumping from
that source," continued the Mayor. "Very
well; and they had better not. Indeed,
they shall not, for I shall not permit it. I
will get out an injunction and go before
the Grand Jury if they attempt it." The
Mayor concluded by saying that he would
confine himself to this phase of the water
question.
Ben Morgan, lawyer, began an argument
on the other phase of the question — the
water rates. He said that the method of
fixing; of the rates by seeking the cost and
assessed value of the plant, etc., would lead
the board estray as it was not the proper
way of arrivingat the value. He suggested
that three disinterested engineers, such as
Colonel Mendell, for instance, be em
ployed to make a thorough investigation
and figure upon the value of the plant and
report to the committee. He suggested as a
means of overcoming the objection of high
water rents to poor people that the city's
hydrant rents, the cheapest in the world,
he said, $2 50, be increased to $12 and in
proportion the private hydrant rent would
be lowered.
Mayor Sutro followed, advocating that
an order be passed compelling the water
company to put in meters where required
and charge for what the meter showed. He
thought the plan good for the city, for big
bills were paid for water on public grounds
and for many months of the year no water
was used. ■ • .
Supervisor Benjamin moved that the
committee refer the whole matter to the
Water Committee with instructions to pre
pare a schedule of rates. This was adopted
and the committee rose.
Supervisor Dimond now introduced a
resolution, which he said was required of
him by the Democratic platform, provid
ing that the water rates should cover the
running expenses, interest on bonded in
debtedness and 5 per cent on the capital
stock. He hoped that "some others of the
Democratic 'members equally bound by the
platform would second the motion, but
there was no second. Mayor Sutro de
clared the motion out of order anyhow, as
it would be fixing the rate, which had been
by previous resolution left to the Water
Committee to prepare and report to the
board. The board then adjourned.
EXCURSIONISTS AEEIVE.
A Party of Pennsylvanians Who Are Do
ing the State. '
The Pennsylvania Railroad has another
party of excursionists in this city to-day.
They are .- simply on a pleasure trip, and
are making a tour of the principal points
of interest in the State/ »
There are about ; forty persons in : the
party, and of that number the following
are at the Palace :
John 8. Bowers, Martinsburg, Pa.; Walter P
Colburn l and Mrs. i Colburn, Peoria : 111 • Mi s
Helen R. Eastgate, Elmira, N. V. ; William 1).
Evans, Miss Mary C. Evans, Phoenixville; Miss
Alice M. Harper, George T. Harris and Mrs.
Harris, Edson 8. Harris, Miss Greta Harris
Philadelphia; Miss Helen J. Innes, Canto? ,?P™';
Miss Mary A:' Kent, Clifton , Heights Pa • Airs
Samuel Martin Miss E. Moyer, Philadelphia!
Mrs Richard Miller, Chester, Pa. ; Mrs. M. N. a
Parker, New York ; Miss ■ Mary Patton, Phila
delphia; J. \M. Pratt, South •' Ashburnham,
Mass.; . Isaac W. Rushmore . and . Mrs. Rush-.
m i°' '« M , i ! S< lv R T Shmore > Miss P. J. ; Rushmore,
Plainfield.T N. J. ; * Mrs. ' Nellie KR. Sondheim,
£ c , w York; A. B. Stuchfieldl and Mrs. Stuch
field, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Miss Ida C. Webb, Miss
Caroline Webb, Miss Mabel R. Webb, Phila
delphia. • --i-j:-, ■/,■;;;■ ;y.t ; v -,-.,■■' ■'/',■ ■ ,■ 'r- ■ .
* ♦ •
Ecclesiastical Patients.
Rev. Father Vanderheyden of Boise City,
Idaho, who is a patient at St. Mary's Hospital,
and who came here to have nn operation per
formed, 13 on a fair way to recovery. The
operation was performed last week.
Father Brodey's condition is slightly im
proved. He Is now at Bt. Mary's hospital. He
was removed there to have an operation per
formed.
At Schillgallen, in Germany, lately an
old gentleman of 73 named Jurklies, who
had already buried three wives, proposed
to a fourth. She told him he was too old,
whereupon he went into a neighboring for
est and hanged himself.
WILL CELEBRATE PESACH.
An Important Hebrew Festival
to Be Observed Next
Week.
MANY CURIOUS CEREMONIES.
No Bread Permitted to the . Israel
ites During Passover
. . Week. - : ' ■ •
Beginning with next Monday evening,
Hebrews all over the entire.- world will
commence the celebration of iPe.sach, the
feast of.Passover. The date; ifcprii 8, cor
responds with the 14th day of the month
. Nissan, the first ecclesiastical month of the
Hebrew year. The Passover festival is ob
served by the orthodox or conservative
portion of the community fo* eight days,
but the "reform" section,', of which the
Congregation Emanu-El is the representa
tive in this city, only regards it for one
week. '. . • ' .
Passover, is, perhaps,, the prettiest of all
Hebrew festivals. It w;as originally de
signed to commemorate the deliverance of
the Hebrew nation from the tyranny of
Egypt, and with its observance were con
nected many symbolic customs, which in
late years have either been relegated to
oblivion or to the orthodox in Israel.
The day before Passover is called "The
fast of the first born," and on this day
every first born male sod of Israelite par
ents observes a strict fast. The termina
tion of the day of abstinence ushers in the
feast of Pesach. . • •'"••'
The main and striking characteristic of
the festival' is. the 'fact that no bread or
leavened food of any kind is permitted to
"be used. This; prohibition.' is even ex
tended to beer, confectionery, ' malt
liquors.— in fact to any fp'oa which; has un
dergone the process of. fermentation. Tho
staple article of diet is. the matzo, or un
leavened cake, made Qf fear and water,
but. without ;y.east or other fermenting
toatter. . ' . . :
Previous to the incoming of the Pass
over,: every orthodox head of a Jewish
family makes diligent search' through hia
house", from cellar to garret^ for leavened
"food. Wheja all the scraps are col
lected they are burned, the master
of the house pronouncing . a formula
in Chaldaic, annulling all leaven
that he may have overlooked, and pro
nouncing it to be "as. th.c dust of the
earth."
The first two nights- of Passover are
called Seder nights: On both of these
nights a speeral service of prayer is held
in every Jewish-, home,., at which many an
cient and curious custoihs are followed out.
On the supper-table are placed bitter herbs
of various kinds to symbolize Egyptian
tyranny,. the shankbone of a lamb, repre
senting the ancient paschal- lamb, and a
mixture of ohopped apples, spices and
raisins, called, charoseth or mortar, sym
bolic of. .the. servitude of the ancient Israel
ites under Rameses. -' . " . • . •
When all the assembled company are
seated, the master of the house, with a cup
of wine in his hand,- pronounces the Kid
dush,. or sa'nctificatio'n prayer. He then
exhibits to all present.an unleavened' cake,
saying in Cbaidaie, "Like this was the
bread of affliction, which our fathers ate in
Egypt. Let all who are hungry enter and
eat. The better . to' carry' out • the senti
ment contained in. the foregoing., the outer
door of the house is hospitably left open
during the whole of the service.
The youngest male member of the -com
pany them asks in Hebrew:' "Why is this
night distinguished from all other nights?
Why the unleavened bread and the bitter
herbs?" The answers to these questions are
furnished in the Haga'da, which is then re- "
cited and which forms a remarkable collec
tion of the sayings, witty,- wise and' philo
sophical/of the ancient Hebrew rabbis.
During the time occupied in reading the
Hugada" all present lounge at the table in
free and .easy positions, which are sup
posed to suggest present freedom in contra
distinction to former bondage/
After supper, which- is served late in the
evening, the balance of the. Hagada, con
sisting of_psalms and lyrical compositions,
is read. By a quaint and curious supersti
tion the prophet Elijah;, who may be said
to be the good genius of the Hebrew, is
supposed to be present at the- latter stage
of' the - proceedings. • The observant Jew
even leaves a place for prophet at the
table and places. a glassof wine for him.
Bacon Printing Company, 503 Clay itreet •
* — ♦ — •
Crystallized ginger, 25c lb, Townsend's. • .
Mottled bricks are coming into use foi
building purposes.'. They give a/house the
appearance of castile soap. ..."
It is reported from a country district
that a farmer observing a neighbor's hay^
rick on fire promptly summoned the en
gines, although he had no interest in the
stack. His intervention saved £16 worth
of hay, but.tbe owner instead of feeling
grateful refused to pay the tire brigade bill
of £12 and the. farmer who gave the alarm
found himself liable for th« amount.
iN'early spring every one needs totake r Hood's
Sarsapariila to purify the blood and build up' tha
system. Hood's Sarsaparilla. makes pore blood and
gives new life and energy. . ■
By adding 20 drops of. Dr. Slegertls Angostura
Bitters to every glass diseases from drinking pollu
ted water are avoided. ". ■
For Bronchi-ax and Asthmatic Complatnt*
" Brown's Bronchial • Trochet " have remarkaM*
curative propertiesl ."•'..
■ • ■•: • .••
. Women avoid- -suffering by using' Pahkeb'i
Ginger Tonic, as it is adapted to their ills. . ' #
HiybEßcc Rx-i, the best cure for corns, 15 cents,.'
KELLY &LIEBES' >
Cloak and Suit House, : A
120 KEARNY STREET.
New Spring Capes ;
•We offer a thousand" garments, in eyery con-
ceivable new design and material. . We propose
to sell a lot of them this week at these special •
price inducements -for this week' only.
Cl—l 00 20 ° Stylish Spring Capes, assorted
j— . vr vr styles and colors, short and me-
.^u-^-— dium lengths, extra ; full circle
"• '. actual value $7.50. • v
J
(t«i» SO 17 & Nobby Spring Jackets, assorted ' X '
J)^7*yr- styles, tans, blacks, etc., new backs
~-f- extra large sleeves; actual valuo
:■■ '■' -' ■'■■- '■■ '■ . ' • * ' , ' $11.00. ■ *
■ :! ---.^' ' ■■.■•-.,- T~, — '■ --' "■ ' -" "
<£ m -» .50 Changeable Velvet Capes, extra '{£ '
JJI • y.Y. . big circle cut, silk lined, fancy
~ .%J—rr-, color effects; actual value $20.00.
(t, i 00 Finest Crepon -' Separate Skirts,
J) \'A.'^y -organ pipe back very wide flare,
•3-s- .-7T- '— lined * all ; through ? with moix* *
percaline ; actual value $21.00/ ' ■
